You're just wrong on this one PCL. SWAPA simply took a different tack on how to best develop a system of identifying Known Crewmembers. SWAPA went the direction of using biometric data to most securely identify the identity of crewmembers. The system developed and tested by SWAPA is in fact superior to the system that is currently in place even though it was not adopted for fear of cost problems. The original mandate included the need for a
biometric component which is exactly why SWAPA went the direction of biometrics.
SecureScreen was jointly developed by the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), Southwest Airlines (SWA), the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations (CAPA), Maryland Aviation Authority (BWI), officials from TSA, and Priva Technologies. ClearedKey utilizes commercially available, biometrically enabled microchips with the government?s FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certification.
SecureScreen addresses the congressional mandates in H.R. 1 (Public Law 110-053), implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which requires TSA to enhance security by properly identifying authorized airline flight deck and cabin crew members at screening checkpoints, granting them expedited access through screening checkpoints and
to integrate biometric identifiers into airport security access control systems.
http://secureidnews.com/news-item/southwest-airline-pilots-undergo-biometric-screening/
The program, called SecureScreen, is a joint effort by the
Transportation Security Administration, Southwest Airlines, the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association, the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, Priva Technologies and the Maryland Aviation Administration.
More than 200 BWI-based Southwest Airlines pilots will participate in the project and have their fingerprints, photographs and other security information stored on Priva's ClearedKey devices. A reader at a TSA security checkpoint will verify pilots' identities against the devices' biometric data.
http://gcn.com/articles/2008/09/18/tsa-tests-biometrics-for-pilots.aspx?admgarea=TC_SECCYBERSSEC
SecureScreen addresses the congressional mandates in H.R. 1 (Public Law 110-053), implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which requires TSA to enhance security by properly identifying authorized airline flight deck and cabin crew members at screening checkpoints, granting them expedited access through screening checkpoints
and to integrate biometric identifiers into airport security access control systems. - See more at:
http://secureidnews.com/news-item/so....GYbhET5Y.dpuf
The first participants in the SecureScreen program were 200 Southwest Airlines pilots who went through a quick enrollment process, which stored their fingerprints, photograph, and other protected security information on what is called a ClearedKey. It's a token with a USB interface. The ClearedKey data can only be accessed by TSA at a security checkpoint, where the ClearedKey reader verifies the pilot's fingerprint and also provides an additional layer of security by showing the TSA agent the pilot's photograph. After positive identification, TSA clears the pilot to proceed into the secure area to report for flight duty.
"The screening takes only a few seconds but it offers robust access control because it provides not only biometric identification of users, but an additional three different ID verification factors including the user's photo and the confirmation of the authenticity of the ClearedKey and the ClearedKey reader. In addition, the platform protects the privacy of the personal information provided by users and is designed to foil spoofing," says Chambers.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/busine...es_beyond_biometrics_says_priva_technologies/